At the core of Pyllon is a belief that we can all learn from each other. The running experience level or background in the sport doesn’t correlate directly with how useful a seemingly insignificant piece of advice or insight can be when it’s received at just the right time!
We are incredibly fortunate to work with athletes all over the world and we’re grateful when our passionate athletes share their experiences. This a blog by Patricia Carvalho, who was part of the Pyllon Endeavour team who tackled a double WHW back in November. We think this personal challenge of Patricia’s is a very special Endeavour indeed. Best of luck Patricia and enjoy the journey :)
“ The space between what you know “
Inverness to Skye - A solo, unsupported, winter adventure driven by curiosity and a search for darkness, purpose... and some other things...
It all started back in May 2019, when my friend Bryan, bad-ass talented runner, Co-op lorry driver and overall great guy, came to visit from Inverness as we volunteered to help at the Skye Trail Ultra for the weekend. At some point, between a fun run up Dùn Caan on Raasay and, the random chats filling up the hours of sleep deprivation, i must have mentioned about a desire to go explore more of Kintail and the mainland. To which, Bryan told me, with a humble smile, about that one time he got a lift with one of his work colleagues on the Skye delivery route, had him drop him off at this place by the A87 in Kintail and then he ran back to Inverness through the trails behind the hills.
Back then, my knowledge of that area was limited to whatever I could see on the bus, and I simply couldn’t understand how on earth he had done that or what trails he was talking about. I must have said something like “ Wow really!? That’s so awesome!” but in the back of my curious mind now there was an enigma I absolutely needed to solve! Over the following years, I had the opportunity to have a few great days running and exploring Kintail including a 2 day solo adventure with a baltic ridge bivvy that took me for the first time to those “ trails behind the hills” Bryan had talked about.
“Aw, I see!!Huh!?” I started to “paint the picture”!
What began with the curiosity of wanting to know how Bryan had done the feat, it was further fuelled by those exploratory fun days, the gruelling tales from Paul and Graham’s Cape Wrath Trail adventure, the stories of the National Trail Winter Endeavour, all put together with a great day running most of the Affric Kintail Way with Paul during his HT550 last year and, oh I was fired up to put together my own quest through these magnificent wild lands!
It very quickly escalated to a burning desire to see what it would look like and what it would feel like to be out there, on my own, in the winter with a decent amount of darkness. I have come to love and look forward to the darkness, it takes you through another dimension, “ the space between what you know”. The world of intriguing nocturnal creatures, of intensified imagination that tricks your rational mind and has you questioning even your own shadow, of shining stars and scintillating frost, of silence and solitude, of a different kind of beauty. It brings overwhelm, fear and struggle in one hand and, focus, strength and light in the other. Your reality contracts and expands all at once in front of your eyes. I’m looking forward to the darkness, can you tell? Anyway, I digress...
So, I now had a better idea of this route but, to me, it made more sense running it East to West, away from the city and into the remote wilderness, starting in the dark and under the shelter of the forest and move towards the light and the expansive open Glens. I’m all about that symbolism, I bet you can tell - just a romantic at heart, really.
The route takes in the northern section of the, well established, Great Glen Way from the centre of Inverness ( I will start at the bus station, off the bus and off i go!) to Drumnadrochit. Here I will pick up the, more recently created and improved, Affric Kintail Way, through the beautiful, remote Glen Affric and Glen Lichd (I love this one), between the fantastic mountains of Kintail, all the way to Morvich at the edge of Loch Duich. Initially, I was going to stop here but, it just didn’t feel right, it felt unfinished and it brought a whole lot of logistical problems to the table like, “ What the hell am I gonna do in Morvich afterwards, getting cold and hungry, if I miss the bus to Skye?”
Now, my most favourite thing to do with running is to look at a map or landscape and go find a way to move through it and get me where I want to go. So i was back to my maps, guidebooks and online research, determined to find a way to get to Skye that didn’t involve the most obvious but very miserable, kinda boring, run along the busy main road. It would be a total anti-climax after such an amazing journey through that beautiful wilderness too. A couple hours later, I had a plan and, after a couple trips to mainland, I managed to put together a mix and match route of forest tracks, woodland trails, quiet back roads, a tidal marshland with a funky descent between the crags, and that last section of the old coffin road out of Morvich. I read some spooky stories about this coffin road, the northern part of it but, still, it had to be included, obviously! All of this will lead me to Kyle of Lochalsh and the Grand Finale of running the Skye bridge, and...Over the Sea to Skye! To Kyleakin’s bus stop, more precisely, because, since I’m taking the last bus out of Skye to mainland I thought it would be funny to try beat the last bus back from mainland to Skye! Pretty cool right!? Some of you know how much I loooove the thrill of racing against public transports! Especially ferries and buses. Great times and no sign up fees!
My Why?
Last year was a tough one for me, I got injured, left jobs, lost my furry soul mate and best bunny friend and struggled all year in all areas of my life. I experienced and am still trying to deal with different types of grief and disappointment. I lost my focus and my purpose in life, felt hopeless and at times even my desire to run was nowhere to be found. I got by but, I wasn’t me. This project, in a way, brought me back to life, gave me some focus, meaning and passion to get me through the winter and it started to re-ignite a spark that I feared I was losing. I know, I hope I’ll find a bit more of me when I get going out there this weekend.
But also, well, it’s as simple as, I want to see it, what it’s like, that space between what I know. The darkness, emotionally and physically. What will it feel like? How overwhelmed will i get? Will I cry? ( most definitely) Will i meet anyone at the bothy? Will I have one of those surreal moments where time seems to slow down and you feel like you are floating? Will I see Deer? Spiders and all those nocturnal bugs? Buzzards and Eagles? Will there be ice and snow? Where am I gonna want to eat my sandwich? Will I see spooky stuff when i get close to the old coffin road? Will I beat the bus?
What’s in the space between what you know? Let’s go find out!
Whatever happens, it’s been a while since I felt this strong and free in my running and I am very grateful for all the mini adventures and training that got me to this point. Thank you and shout out to my wonderful coach, Kevin, for helping me and standing by me in the chaos.
And Bryan, Paul and Graham for the inspiration.
See you out there!
Written by Patricia Carvalho. If you would like to follow Patricia’s journey you can find her on instagram
